A meal in less than 30 minutes. Chicken Tortellini in pesto sauce.

The Chief grilled out some chicken the night before and I used it in this delicious dinner that took less than 30 minutes.

I didn't take any pictures of the ingredients because I didn't think it was going to come out as good as it did. 

These two ingredients are the key to the sauce. 

9 oz package of Buitoni Tortellini

2 cups of vegetable stock

1/8 cup of olive oil

1 cup of diced onion

Three cloves of garlic chipped

2 cups of cooked diced chicken breast

2 cups of frozen string beans

Three heaping tbs. of basil and herb blend

I started off by boiling the water for the tortellini. Once the water started to boil I put the tortellini in and stirred. Then I took out my wok and heated up 1/8 cup of olive oil. Once the olive oil was nice and hot I added 1 cup of diced onions with three chopped cloves of garlic. By the time the onions and garlic are nice and brown the tortellini were done. I then added the frozen string beans, diced cooked chicken, vegetable stock, cooked tortellini and basis and herb blend to the onions and garlic. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer with the lid on for ten minutes and serve.

Cream Puff

The Cisco Kid only has six days of school left. There is so much to do until school is out. Today is his teacher’s birthday and I made some Cream Puffs for her and the class. I wanted to bring her something different. I’m sure she is ready for something different since cupcakes are served at every class event.

This is the first time I made Cream Puffs for the Cisco Kid and he loved them. They are a very light and fluffy pastry filled with cream. I like making a verity of flavor Cream Puffs. Beside vanilla, some of my favorite flavors are: chocolate, key lime and pistachio. 

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces and additional butter for tray preparation

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs

1 egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon water for egg wash

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. You will be using 2 oven racks, one placed in the highest position and one in the lowest position. You will be swapping the position of your trays halfway through the backing time.

2. Butter two rimmed baking sheets {the rims are important-otherwise the little puffs may slide off the pan when swapping or removing from the oven}. This recipe yields 2 dozen puffs so be sure to use larger trays.

3. Using a large, heavy saucepan (not a Teflon coated pot) combine 1 cup water, 1 stick of butter, and the salt and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until the butter melts. Reduce heat to medium.

4. Add 1 cup flour stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan forming a ball. This should take less than 1 minute. Cool for 1 minute.

5. Using a handheld mixer beat in the eggs, 2 at a time until thoroughly mixed in. The dough will be shiny and soft!

Baking

Drop the dough by generous tablespoons onto the baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the puffs with the egg wash.

Bake for 25 minutes until the puffs are puffed and brown switching the position of the trays at halfway in to the baking process. When the puffs are done baking, remove from the oven and turn the oven off. Using a toothpick poke a hole in each puff and return to the oven (still off) for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

The cream filling.

This cream filling is so easy and delicious.

You can make any flavor filling just by adding together 3.4 oz of jell-o pudding, ½ cup of milk with 1 lb. container of Cool Whip. Mix together and refrigerate for one hour.